A teenager who broke into the home of a 98-year-old woman and poured maple syrup on her as she feigned sleep was sentenced to 100 days in open custody and 50 days community supervision.
In handing down the sentence in a Barrie court, Justice Jonathan Bliss said the youth's 'mean and degrading act' had 'tarnished' the home where 'helpless' senior Jean Knox had lived for 66 years.
"We're all struggling to understand how you could have treated a defenceless, vulnerable woman this way," Bliss said. "This crime, quite frankly, is shocking in its callousness and its cruelty."
Intruders broke into Knox's home by smashing a window on the back door in the early morning hours of Dec. 29.
Court heard the assailants smeared maple syrup, peanut butter, ketchup, cooking oil and mayonnaise all over the walls, floors and furniture.
In her victim impact statement, Knox said she pretended to be asleep as two hooded figures came into her room.
"They poured something over me and at that moment I thought it was blood," she said.
Two teens, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were charged with break and enter, assault and mischief.
The boy who was sentenced Tuesday pleaded guilty to the crime and tearfully apologized to his elderly victim in court.
Knox is confined to a wheelchair and is almost completely deaf.
Insurance covered most of the damage but she had to pay a $1,000 deductible, $750 to stay at a retirement residence while her home was being repaired and $2,000 for a security system.
The youth was also sentenced to two year's probation.
Bliss took into account it was the youth's first offence and part of a series of 'bad decisions.'
"You are at a crossroads," Bliss told the youth, now, 17, who sat expressionless during the judge's hour-long sentencing.
"You have the capacity to change your life. You need to give your head a shake and think about where you're going."
The youth's mother sat in the front row while the teen was sentenced.
Knox did not attend.
The youth will spend 100 days in an open custody facility.
The Ontario government defines open custody facilities as 'smaller residences, generally located in the community, where youth live under supervision.'
A second youth charged in the case is still before the courts.
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